Development is the target that each country tries to meet through policies of various dimensions. The world today is much connected and inter-linked through a network of global diplomatic initiatives and actions that are woven during times of peace as well as conflict. Currently the global networks of socio-economic and technological and scientific connectivity are extensively spread across various continents.No country can remain in autarkic status.

Smaller and weaker countries are more dependent on the prevailing global trend of interdependence. They have, whether willingly or unwillingly, become a part of the international cobweb. Essentially what is required are national policies that can serve the national objective to navigate its external policy in the complex regional and global situations.

Hence, there is a great need for well-founded and well-knit diplomatic conduct to meet the challenges of external threats originating from the conflict of national interests, especially of the super and major powers.

They are the principal actors who are in the driving seats to do or not to do any business related to the international situation. They have options and strategies at their disposal. They marshal their foreign policy and diplomatic move as nudged by their domestic demands and interior political exigency without much constraint and barrier to make the journey of their choice as they are well-equipped with the much-needed diplomatic initiatives and other strategic resources.

However, a country like Nepal faces myriad obstructions to safely handle its diplomatic businesses. It hardly has any tactical options and choices to make in the conduct of diplomatic affairs. Geography, socio-economic constraints, internal socio-economic structure and long pursued external policy have made Nepal a prisoner of its own status and external interferences, both seen and unseen.

Nepal has, up to now, been able to maintain its independent posture. Unfortunately, Nepal still lags far behind in making any notable progress in the development arena to lift the country out of the socio-economic status of a less-developed fate.

That has hampered the steady rise in the living standards of the Nepali people at large.

Nepal in the last three decades has witnessed political upheavals of various nuances and dimensions.

But socio-economic progress has hardly been noted during these times. The long existing socio-economic stagnation, fed by political instability resulting in the non-satisfactory performance on the economic front, is more to be noted.

If such a situation were to run through for decades, Nepal will be damned to economic hell from which it can hardly recover. It is unfortunate that the current generation of Nepali society will certainly be blamed for the economic stagnation. Consequently, Nepal genuinely needs international cooperation to get out of the trap of economic misery and trouble.

Observers think that diplomacy, more attuned to development, needs to be geared up for external assistance and friendly cooperation from friendly countries and neighbours. Nepal must be prepared to craft diplomatic initiative and appropriate planning in the right way. It is true that Nepal has been working on bilateral and international diplomatic activities since the country opened up to the external world inthe early 1950s.

However, skillfully-crafted diplomatic strategies for development have now become an utmost need for the country to transform the Nepali society into the 21st century. The sooner steps are initiated in the right direction, the better will be its outcome.

Nepal is still stained with the under-developed status even in the current third decade of the 21st century.

It is painfully chilling to note that the country is damned to that low status because of the turbulent political situation and geographical constraint, when all less developed countries like Bhutan, Bangladesh and the Maldives of South Asia have liberated themselves from the grip of that unfortunate status.

Stepped-up actions and situation-deserved economic planning supported by a well-lubricated mechanism are essentially required to boost the country's socio-economic development.

The Committee on Development Policy (CDP) of the Socio-Economic Council of the United Nations in its latest triennial review of 2021 has granted Nepal a grace period up to December 2026 to graduate to developing status, keeping in view the economic downward the country experienced following the unfortunate onslaught of COVID-19.

In its triennial review done in 2018, Nepal had almost reached all the three thresholds for graduation to developing status. Nepal had achieved the necessary conditions in the Human Asset Index (HAI), Economic and Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI) and the near threshold of the GNI per-capita income in 2019. However, the unexpected onslaught of the pandemic from 2020 to 2022 pushed Nepal's national economy downward, which has deprived Nepal from acquiring the status of a developing economy.

The diplomacy of Nepal must be framed for the progressive development of the country with necessary mechanisms put in place and required human skills trained so as to meet the challenges facing the country.

Nepali diplomats must be refined and polished with crucial communication skills and their dexterity heightened and enriched to make a good impression in their dealings with their counterparts abroad. Do we possess all that? Hey, critical introspection is the concern of the day! Isn't it?

A version of this article appears in the print on September 29, 2023, of The Himalayan Times